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B2B Lead Generation Articles on Saying Hello Sets the Stage
- Saying Hello Sets the Stage
Accelerating IT Sales | Jun 10, 2009 | Permalink
Email marketers are constantly working to attract new subscribers, but maintaining lists, developing relationships with new members, and retaining users is equally, if not more important when it comes to creating high-value, sales-ready leads. To determine how companies welcome new members, Return Path, an email services company, signed up for 61 email programs and examined how they were treated once they expressed interest in a company's offerings by handing over their personal information. In their recently published research study, Creating Great Subscriber Experiences: Are Marketers Relationship Worthy?, Return Path analyzed their email subscription experiences, and concluded that most email marketers don't appreciate the timeliness and value of welcoming new members to their site...
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- Saying Hello Sets the Stage
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, Return Path found that 60% of the companies they tested failed to send a welcome message, and 30% failed to send new members any messages within the first 30 days of the subscriber's registration. </p>
<p>By ignoring these new members, companies lose the opportunity to engage prospects early in their buying process, and immediately after expressing interest in the company. The fact that someone has taken the time to register for an email program is indicative of a high level of interest, and suggests that they would be receptive to starting a dialog or relationship. Ideally, you want to strike while the iron is hot and send a confirmation/welcome message to new subscribers within the first 24-hours of receiving their data. </p>
<p>Sending welcome messages so quickly benefits both parties too. New members will know that their information was properly submitted and received, will have their subscription data (or a link to their subscription data) for future reference, and will know that their interest in your company has not gone unnoticed. At the same time, email marketers benefit by confirming that their new users have entered deliverable email addresses, by increasing their brand awareness with a branded email message, and by giving the new member an opportunity to immediately engage with additional marketing materials. </p>
<p>According to the Return Path study however, it took an average of 9 days for companies to send their first messages after obtaining new subscribers. Once a new member has hit the "submit" button on your site, you have basically been invited to send them a message and welcome them to your site. When you overlook this crucial step, you lose out on quickly segmenting, qualifying and engaging some of the most interested prospects on your email lists. You also fall behind in keeping your brand first-and-foremost in front of these already-engaged eyes, and could lose the lead altogether if they're more effectively courted by your competition.</p>
<p>So the time is now to put in place an automated email message welcoming all new members to your site. <br/>
To learn more about crafting effective email marketing welcome messages, check out this compilation of articles and best practice guides from <a href='http://www.email-marketing-reports.com/copywriting/list-messages/'>Email Marketing Reports</a>. While implementing a process to welcome new members may seem simple, remember that the first message most of your users receive may be the only one they ever read. </p><img src='http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~r/AcceleratingItSales/~4/zyfH1Fqgwrc' height='1' width='1'/>)
